The Things They Carried

1. The Things They Carried Discussion and Close Reading “In war you lose your sense of the definite, hence your sense of truth itself, and therefore it's safe to say that in a war story nothing is ever absolutely true”

2. Quick Questions • What is the goal of any good story? • What are some of the most effective techniques used by authors to tell good stories? • Which kind of stories (fiction or not) stick in your mind/memory the longest? • Do you find that an author’s credibility or past experiences really affects the way you read their work? Y N • Do you ultimately think stories that are based in factual happening are more persuasive or have more validity? Y N

3. A. True War Stories…. • O’Brien defines a “true war story” throughout “How to Tell a True War Story.” What are the qualities of a “true war story,” according to O’Brien? • What do you make of his definition of “truth”?

4. B. Storytelling: Creating the “gut feeling” • Explain story truth vs. happening truth. Give a definition and an example for each. Are the “story truth” or “happening truth” stories more true? • How many times are we told the story of Curt Lemon’s death? What are the differences in the way the story is told? The point? • What really matters about stories to O’Brien? Do you agree that telling several versions is more likely to impact the most amount of people in the deepest way?

5. C. “How to Tell” and “Dentist” • 1. Read O’Brien’s generalizations about war on 80-82 and how it can be experienced. Can you relate to any of this? If so, to what parts of your life do these comments connect? • 2. What point about bravery does O’Brien make in “Dentist”?

6. “A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue. As a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil”

7. D. “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” • Mary Anne, “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” is obviously an important and emblematic character. What is O'Brien doing with her? What does her character show? • Do you find this a believable story? Could it be true?   About Mary Anne, Rat Riley says that “at least she was real.”  Do you agree with him?

8. E. “Stockings” & “Church” • How does O’Brien created Dobbins’ character? What is he a metaphor/analogy to? Look at the description at the start of “Stockings” • Why create a character like Henry Dobbins? What does O’Brien show through him? • How does the conversation between Kiowa and Dobbins in “Church,” reveal their motivations and thoughts on the war?

9. F. “The Man I Killed” and “Ambush” • How do these two chapters work together to address O’Brien’s feelings of guilt and responsibility for the war? • A. O’Brien tells the same story in each of these chapters; one version is brief and the other is detailed. Why? Is one story truth and one happening truth? • How does this explain his comment, “This is why I keep writing war stories”?(131). • O’Brien does not tell his nine-year-old daughter, Kathleen, that he killed someone in the war because it seems like the right thing to do. Do you agree with him? • A. Let’s discuss reasons why he should tell her and reasons why he shouldn’t. What should his response have been?

10. G. “Style” • Some of the chapters appear random— • Why is the girl dancing in “Style”? Why does the girl cover her ears when she is dancing? • Why does Dobbins get upset with Azar? • Why does O’Brien include this chapter?

11. Homework: Read “Speaking of Courage” through “Good Form” • Please respond to these five questions for homework in your journal and update your character and topic tracking pages in your journal. • 1. Aside from "The Things They Carried,” "Speaking of Courage" is the only other story written in third person. Why are these stories set apart in this manner? What does the author achieve by doing so? • 2. What is the effect of "Notes," in which O'Brien explains the story behind "Speaking Of Courage"? Does your appreciation of the story change? Who is this story really about? • 3. In "In The Field," O'Brien writes, "When a man died, there had to be blame." What does this feeling do to the men of O'Brien's company? Are they justified in thinking themselves at fault? How do they cope with their own feelings of guilt? • 4. This novel is really a collection of short stories but they do connect. Comment on how “Speaking”, “Notes”, and “In the Field” are connected. • In "Good Form," O'Brien casts doubt on the veracity (truthfulness) of the entire novel. Why does he do so? Does it make you more or less interested in the novel? Does it increase or decrease your understanding?

12. Close Reading • For the passage your group is given, please provide the most thoughtful, succinct, and clearly articulate analysis as possible. • Each of you should fill out your sheets. You will choose the clearest one to put under the doc cam. • All of these quotes are about truth or storytelling. We will do this same exercise again with different topics and individually!